The Long Climb
by thejoker122
Summary: His dream finally came true. He was going to be on Impact Wrestling. However, while he is there, he will make friends, enemies, and find love. What will happen when his past comes back to haunt him though? What happens if the only person he truly ever loved gets caught in the crossfire? He is in for one long climb. Not just to be a champion, but to defeat his demons as well.
1. Chapter 1

Chicago. The Windy City. Home to many great wrestlers and tag teams. Home to TNA Impact for these next few months. Being from Albuquerque, New Mexico, I was excited to be in Chicago. Especially if I get to wrestle against Austin Aries and Bobby Roode.

My name is Adam Martin. I've wrestled in Japan, Mexico, England, France, and Germany. During my career, I have fought the toughest opponents, and got betrayed by my best friend. Luckily, my friend Jason Evans had my back. I signed on with Ring Of Honor where I became friends with Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. They got me signed to TNA.

Walking around backstage, I ran into a blonde woman with light blue eyes. As our eyes met, I was surprised with how beautiful her eyes were. Her eyes had some red, as if she was crying.

"Are you okay?" She asked, with an angelic voice. Worry was etched on her face.

"Yeah. My name is Adam Martin. What's yours?" I replied, hoping to get a chance to go out with her.

"Shantelle Malawski. You debuting tonight?" She had a soft smile on her face, which caused me to give her a genuine smile. The first genuine smile I had in a while.

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I'm making my debut tonight" She blushed and I felt good. She truly is a beautiful woman.

"When do you make your debut Adam?" She asked, causing me to wonder if she wanted to hang out after the show.

"I'm making my debut after the Shane Thompson and Kenny King match. Why?" She gave me a shy smile that was cute.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after the show?" I gave her a nod of the head, and she gave me a bright smile along with her number. Returning the favor, she said that she had a "great protector" now.

As we parted ways, I was wondering why she was so trusting of me. She doesn't know that much about me. I mean, for all she knows, I could be a crazy fan of hers who wanted... on second thought, I don't want to go down that thought path.

As the show was nearing the end, I got changed into my wrestling gear. It was a pair of red tights, along with red boots. Wearing my signed Bears shirt, I went to the gorilla position.

"I have been asking for some new opponents to beat, and Kurt has said he would only get the best. I want to see just WHO Kurt got!" Shane said, and I recognized my que.

Wastelands by Linkin Park blared through the Sears Center, and I walked out. Those who saw me wrestle at All American Wrestling cheered, while the others weren't sure what to do.

"Shane, you wanted Kurt to get the best. Well, here I am!" I shouted, earning cheers from the crowd.

"Prove it. This Sunday, you will face me for the X Division championship!"

"I'm for it as long as its a tables match!" I said, and The crowd broke out into a 'YES' chant. Shane and I had a stare down to end Impact.

* * *

><p>Going backstage again, I started to laugh at how my life turned around so much. I was always the kid in trouble. Either with teachers, or the law. My mother did her best to raise me, but I didn't care enough to listen. The only bright spot is that my mom is going to visit me and watch an instant classic between two of the best wrestlers in the world.<p>

As The Wolves and I watched the Marcus King match, it sickened me knowing that Roode hired him. Hopefully Aries would win the Heavyweight championship soon. If not, then I'll take a chance on it.

"Adam, you in there?" Wesley Richards asked. Eddie was on the phone with his fiancee Alisha Inacio.

"Sorry. Just thinking about my past" I replied. They rolled their eyes, before noticing that Shantelle was heading over.

"Adam, I'll meet you in the hotel lobby" was all she said, and Wes decided to be a jackass at that moment.

"Looks like our little Adam is all grown up Eddie." He said in a sarcastic tone of voice. Truth is that our friendship was based off the fact we liked the same sports. Other than that, we were usually either working out, eating, playing video games, or trying to kill one another. They are like my brothers.

"Hey Adam. Do you want us to stay away from the room tonight. Ya know, for your 'date night' with Taylor?" Wes asked. Like I said, they are like my brothers. Only difference, my brothers don't make me want to kill them as much as Wes and Eddie do. On a daily basis no less.

**Check out Beauty and The Beast by ChainGangSoldier45. Hope you guys liked the set up for** **Matt's first wrestling match on Impact Wrestling. I have another TNA story coming out within a few days as well. I don't own TNA**, **only Adam Martin/Matt Lopez and Shane Thompson. Marcus King goes to ChainGangSoldier45**


	2. Chapter 2

After the date with Shantelle, we began talking more and more. However, she didn't know just what I was planning. As Impact was going on, I got ready for my match with Shane. Wearing all black, I went to the gorilla position where I saw Bobby waiting for me. He slipped me some money, just so I would help Marcus beat Abyss tonight. As the Wolves ended their match with Magnus and Bram, I got ready to go out for my match.

When I got out there, the crowd popped big time for me. I've always loved wrestling in Chicago. It held the same atmosphere as some of the matches I had in the UK. As Shane made his way out, I ran and hit him with a suicide dive, starting the match with a bang.

* * *

><p>As I shot up, Shane looked around. He was clearly dazed, so I began stomping down on the back of his head. After I was done, he crawled over to the guardrail. When I noticed him, I ran and hit him with a splash, before whipping him into the upper left ring post. As he made contact with it, I began to develop a predatory grin. As he started to get to his feet, I ran and hit him with a vicious yakuza kick.<p>

Setting up a table, he began fighting back. Using his good arm, he delivered a flurry of punches, punctuated with a quick lariat. Setting me up on the steps, he ran and went for a curb-stomp. However, I caught him mid-move and threw him onto the steps. As he hit them, I got onto the ring apron and hit my own curb-stomp onto the steel steps. As the crowd began cheering for me, I just chuckled. Picking him up, I carried him to the table and hit him with a full nelson slam through it.

* * *

><p>As the bell rang, I held up the X-Division championship to the crowd. As they continued their cheering, I grabbed a mic.<p>

"My name is Matt Lopez. I am the NEW X-Division champion. As the new X-Division champion, I'll give anyone from the back a chance to take this championship off of me. It doesn't matter if it's Samoa Joe, MVP, or Kurt Angle. That way, you guys will get to see one hell of a match" I finished, as the crowd was cheering for me.

* * *

><p>Going backstage, I quickly came out of character and embraced Shantelle. Eddie and Wes were both getting changed into their street clothes. As we watched the rest of the Impact, I quickly ran out with a pipe the second I saw Roode get on the apron. As soon as I got on the apron and charged towards him, he dropped down and the pipe connected with Abyss. As Marcus went for the pin, Roode grabbed my leg and pulled me down from the apron and decked me with a vicious punch. As he and Marcus ran backstage, I felt my anger begin to boil at him.<p>

* * *

><p>"Man that was a vicious punch" Wes said, causing me to glare at him. Eddie just chuckled, while Shantelle was making a huge fuss over it. As we headed out to a club, with Ashley coming as well, and I had to remind myself that punching our driver was NOT A GOOD IDEA. A tempting one, yes, but not a good one. As we stopped, Wes was the first one out. I was second, and he made sure to remain on the driver's side so I couldn't hit him. As we walked in, we noticed an empty booth by the dance floor.<p>

"So Adam, are you going to dance with Shantelle?" Eddie asked, to which Wes made my urge to punch him grow.

"Or are you saving that for later. Where you pin her with your clothes thrown around the room?" We both went beet red at that statement, and quickly averted our gaze from one another. As soon as Amazed by Lonestar began playing, Shantelle grabbed my hand and dragged me to the dance floor so we could slow dance to it.

As I looked into Shantelle's eyes, my breath got caught in my throat as I felt how much she loved me, and just how much I loved her. As the troubled kid, I never thought about love. It was always something I avoided, just like my father avoided raising me. As the song went into it's final chorus, I lifted Shantelle's head up and placed a kiss on her lips. She didn't react for a few seconds, but when she did, I felt a warm sensation in my chest. When we parted ways, we heard a camera go off. Turning our heads to see who took the photo, I was somehow not surprised it was Wes.

"Looks like our little troublemaker has grown up Eddie" he said, with mock sadness in his voice. Eddie played along, causing me to glare at them both.

"They grow up so fast." Shantelle was giggling, while holding me back from forgetting they're my friends. After a while, I began laughing as well. They're the brothers I never had, and no matter how angry we got with one another, it got resolved quickly. Usually by a female threatening our family jewels, but still. Tonight couldn't have gone better.

As we were ready to leave, Robert showed up at the club. Noticing me and the others, he made his way over to me. The others noticed someone with a camera following him, so they moved out of the way. As he sat down, I began to glare at him.

"What do you want?" I asked, not hiding my anger for him.

"I have a proposition for you" he said, causing my interest to get piqued.

"What is it?" I asked, causing him to smile. Something tells me this deal is going to benefit me more than him.

**Check out Beauty and The Beast by ChainGangSoldier45. Hope you guys liked the chapter, and the reason for the short match was done to set up the first major storyline for Matt****. I have another TNA story coming out tomorrow, and Proving I Belong the day after that hopefully. I don't own TNA**, **only Adam Martin/Matt Lopez and Shane Thompson. Marcus King goes to ChainGangSoldier45**

**Also, if I create a facebook page, would you guys support it?  
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